Re: [Signals] Low signal and slow speeds

Ok this makes sense now. What my uncle and his wife were saying didn't make sense (I guess they didn't understand the problem either), but now I understand it.

So then they would need to contact Comcast's construction department to come out and give an estimate? Since the neighbor actually owns my uncle's house (and therefore adjoining pieces of property) wouldn't it be possible to set something up so that the mainline cable could run to both houses and supply a proper signal for HSI?

Comcast would have to run main-line cable from the street up towards the house. Generally you don't want to be more than 250 to 300 feet away from the main cable connection. Any more than that, and you will not get usable signal. Depending on how far mainline would have to be run, if there needs to be any amps installed, if they can run it on a pole line or if it goes underground, do they have to get permits from a city, county, or state to go under a road, would all determine how much it would cost. Only someone from your local construction department can answer that. But a 700-900 foot drop would not work.

What exactly do you mean by "extend their network"? Do you mean put a pole or tap or something on their property (like beside their house) so that the drop isn't so far away from the tap/pole (whatever you call it, what do you call it?). They live in a rural area where there's a lot of farms, so people have a lot of property and the houses are set back several hundred feet from the road. What is typically done for people in those situations where the drop cable is 700+ ft from the road or tap?

My uncle lives in a rural area and wanted to get Comcast for HSI, TV, and phone. I don't know what all happened but I do know that Comcast caused so many problems that my uncle decided to go with satellite. He'd like to try getting Comcast again, but he says that part of the problem is with signal and speed. Depending on which way Comcast ran their cable, it would be anywhere from 600 to 800 ft from the house to the road. Then there would be at least 100 ft more to the pole, I suppose it could be several hundred feet away. So Comcast is claiming that it's too far to get a decent signal and speed for HSI. The neighbor has Comcast HSI and they say it's really slow.

Does any of this sound like it could be accurate as to why my uncle can't get Comcast for HSI and why the neighbor's speed is so slow? Even though they're far away from the pole, it seems like it should at least be faster than the slowest DSL speed, which is comparable to what they have now with satellite.

We'd really like some thoughts on this issue. My uncle is so tired of the slow and limited speeds with satellite. There's a data cap of 10 to 40 gb per month and after he goes over it, he ends up with dial-up speeds or some BS like that. With the Kindles, Ipods, PS3 and all that stuff, they reach their limit in no time. The only other option available is Comcast.